Bitcoin as conceptual art:

Just like the online vs offline art world, Bitcoin has an uneasy relationship with its real-world counterpart: cash. Businesses have sprung up everywhere to help consumers convert their Bitcoins to other forms of currency, but none have gotten as big as Mt. Gox, a Tokyo-based exchange service that claims to handle 63% of all Bitcoin transactions. Mt. Gox is already resented by many Bitcoin users for its monopolistic tendencies, but last week, when it announced that it would break Bitcoin’s tacit understanding of anonymity by requiring “verifications” of all its accounts—to prevent malicious activity like buying drugs and child porn—it almost became a villain, and the out roar only highlighted the many difficulties of trying to bridge the chasm between real and virtual currencies.